🔗 Share this article

Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind off the waters of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted with the display," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the players was excellent."

The Rosenior holds this city dear to him, given some of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Tigers. His positive association continued with a magnificent performance from his team, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comprehensive Victory

Three days after surrendering a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity home crowd evidently felt it too, but the London side handled the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps should have been settled long before it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting three of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Influence

The home side displayed plenty of fight all game, but the clearer chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have broken the scoring when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which came back from the bar, and he began to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering three assists. The opening was for the first goal as his pass set up Neto to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after the second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling run from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as Delap once again played the crucial pass for the striker to calmly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the first half-hour had been erased. Their priority must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good example of how we should play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he knows intimately.

FA Cup Omens Are Promising

That made for an in the end routine evening’s performance, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous times in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the final. Much remains to be done in that regard, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.